Ask and you will receive...

Most of you know that I have been trying to get out and to live as “normal” of a life as possible. I even took a 2 day trip down to the beach with my parents weeks ago, but that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I apparently pushed my sick body further than it could go. I tried to ignore it, but my heart started acting up to the point where ignoring it was no longer an option. I got in bed one day almost 2 weeks ago thinking, “I’ll just get some rest and this will all calm down.” But it hasn’t and I'm still here in bed.

I had been living for months, maybe years, with the knowledge that simply standing upright would cause my heart rate to go to 120 or so. I understood that my heart was beating this hard to compensate for the fact that my blood pressure drops when I stand up. My blood pressure is always at its' highest when I am lying flat and it would be about 90/60. But, for the past 3+ months it has only been 80/55 when I lie down. So, it doesn’t have to drop very far when I stand up to induce a fainting spell. If I walk to my kitchen and back (which includes no stairs or incline) my heart rate can shoot to 170 or higher. My heart rate hasn’t been “normal” for years, but it is now reaching new highs and lows. Lately when I wake up my heart rate is only in the 40s and it seems to be harder & harder to "come to" out of sleep. Once it gets to 53 or so I can wake up and move better. Anyway, all of this made me realize I couldn’t wait around for June 10th to have this seen about. Many of my symptoms I can live with, but heart issues are a different story.

So, I prayed – I cried and I prayed and I cried some more. I wasn’t crying for me so much, but more for M who has so much on his plate right now. I just HATE adding anything more. I prayed that God would help me talk to M about all of this and that He would help lead us to a doctor HERE that could see us SOON. I also prayed that unlike some doctors I’ve seen, that we would see a doctor who would have compassion in his heart for my situation. I told M everything that had been going on with my heart and asked who he thought we should start with regarding these heart isssues. He immediately said he would call his G.P. here in town and talk to him. This is a man who M has known for 20 years and whom he knows to be a man with a strong faith in God. Amazingly enough we were able to get in the very next afternoon (which was yesterday).

I printed out the MANY lab reports, cardiac test results, etc., from my health history folder on my computerthat I knew this doctor would need to see since I have never been to him before. As I did this I prayed again. I asked God that this doctor would be able to SEE how much I needed his help. And let me tell you this, God answered. Not in the way I had hoped, but He got the point across for sure. As we walked back to the exam room, which was at the end of a short hallway, the nurse had to stop a couple of times and wait for me to catch up. When I got there she took my pulse and it was 150. I crawled onto the exam table trying to get as flat as possible to rest my heart. The noise in the waiting room had not helped me. My central nervous system is NUTSO right now to say the least. I cannot handle many things, noise being one of the many. Also, when my heart rate shoots up, the body reads it as stress. So, when my brain gets the message that my heart is racing it starts to send out a panic feeling and I become pretty anxious and jittery. This is when the muscle twitching that I have daily really starts to show itself in full. I began jerking and twitching everywhere. It seemed my chin wanted to touch my right shoulder over & over. My legs would jerk. My arms shook. I tried to calm it down but was unable to do so. The doctor came in. He saw ALL OF THIS. He also saw me drink 28+ ounces of water in an effort to calm my body down. I don’t claim to understand my body, but I crave water and salt like they are candy. The water seems to help get my heart rate down???

Anyway, I had one big VISABLE FREAK OUT while lying on that table. He took my blood pressure and it was 79/54 when I was lying down. He TRIED to take it when I stood up but it was dropping so fast that he could only get a reading of 63 for the top number & the bottom number was too low for him to hear apparently? He listened to both M & I for over 45 minutes as we told him what we were most concerned about. He listened and he asked questions. The doctor had talked with M a couple of times over the past few months so he already knew about the Lyme idea and our impending visit to KC. He even has a physician friends whose wife was diagnosed with Lyme and she had to go out of state for treatment as well. So, he knew we were trying to just control any life threatening symptoms until we get to KC. This doctor, Dr. G, was amazing. What made him so amazing you ask? Well, simply put, God did. For the first time in my life I heard a doctor say to us, “I am going to have to pray on this to figure out who is the best person for you to see to get this under control. I want you to go to someone who will be open-minded and see you as a puzzle they want to figure out!” GOD WAS ANSWERING OUR PRAYERS! It was killing my body to go through such a violent spasm, but NO DOCTOR could see that spasm and NOT realize that I was dealing with some serious health problems.

He said he thinks my kidneys, not my heart, are the real root cause of the crazy heart rate. For some reason my kidneys are not retaining fluids properly and they are not keeping a proper balance of sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc. Years before I asked a few doctors about the possibility of seeing a nephrologist (a kidney doctor basically) after I had passed 80 kidney stones in 13 years, but none of them seemed to think my kidneys were to blame. They said I was not drinking enough fluid. I've now passed over 100+ stones and I drink over 60 ounces of water a day now. My kidneys hurt constantly and I just always assume it's just another stone. Apparently there could be more to this pain that stones??? FINALLY I will be seeing a nephrologist!!! Dr. G also said that I can call anytime and come to his clinic where he has the equipment to hook me up to an IV and just give me bags of saline if my heart refuses to settle down. For now he put me on Florinef which will hopefully help my body retain fluid. By doing this my blood pressure should raise enough to keep my heart from having to work so hard.

The down side is that I came home exhausted and still in full body twitching mode. I cannot explain how much that wore me out! I honestly looked like I was having some sort of seizure and it was hard. I went to sleep around 11:00 and slept for 12 hours. That’s something I have not done in what seems like years (and yet I am still being told I have narcolepsy...odd thing, huh?).

I wanted to post this all yesterday but it has taken a good 24 hours for my body to try and recoup from the episode. I'm posting this with the knowledge that I'm still not thinking clearly and that I am having a difficult time just typing. But, I need prayers people. I have 2 doses of Florinef in me so far and we'll see how that helps out. I will be calling the kidney doctor on Monday to set up an appointment so PLEASE pray that I'm able to get in to see him soon and that God will give him knowledge, patience, and true concern for my overall well being. Pray that he will be open minded and will hear my story. Pray that he will help figure out how to get my kidneys (and adrenal glands as well more than likely) to function better at least until I can get to KC!

M and I appreciate all of your prayers. We trust God's plan. We have seen God answer our own prayers almost as soon as they are out of our mouths. God did not "make me sick" but I am so thankful that He is using this really bad time in my life to teach me to draw closer to Him. If that is all I learn through this journey - then I will consider this "bad time" as time well spent!

I hope all of this made sense. It took over two hours to get this together...geesh! But thank you all for caring enough to read it! I promise not all of my posts will be as lengthy!!! Well, that's probably a lie...if you know me at all then you know that me & rambling go together like peas & carrots :) I pray that you are all doing well! And HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all my friends and family members who are moms! You are all awesome in my eyes. Especially my own mother who still comes over to take care of her sick 34 year old "baby" :)


NOTE: The picture at the top of this website is actually from late November and is one I used for our Christmas cards. As my facebook friends know, the picture I put at the bottom of my first post was actually taken 2-3 months ago. So, here's one of me today - in all my un-showered glory :) See, how lucky is M to be able to see THIS every day??? Heehee!!! I may feel bad, but I will always try to smile for a picture :)